


Communication Is Key

by SpicedGold



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: M/M, Other minor characters - Freeform, This is why we need to talk about things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26893615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicedGold/pseuds/SpicedGold
Summary: There may be some debate as to how long Shikadai and Inojin have been dating.
Relationships: Nara Shikadai/Yamanaka Inojin
Comments: 12
Kudos: 154
Collections: why im sleep deprived 💖✨





	Communication Is Key

It was one of those lovely, peaceful afternoons, with the sun shining, and training had gone well, and the youngest generation of Ino-Shika-Cho were lounging in the sun.

Chocho sat on a rock in the training field, munching happily through a packet of chips, and Shikadai was dozing against a nearby tree, with Inojin’s head propped up on his stomach as he idly took advantage of Chocho sitting still to draw her.

The silence was broken by Shikadai, proving he wasn’t asleep, asking in a sleepy voice, “So, my cousin’s visiting this week. Is it okay if he comes to lunch with us on Saturday?”

This question, of course, was directed at Inojin, since Saturday lunches had been their own little private thing for several months now. Chocho thought it was adorable.

“Uh, yeah?” Inojin paused in his drawing. “Um, why wouldn’t it be okay?”

Shikadai shrugged. “You know. It’s weird to invite extra people on dates.”

“On . . .?” Inojin craned his head back, trying to catch a glimpse of Shikadai’s face. “I’m sorry, what?”

“What?”

“What date?”

“Saturday.”

“We . . . aren’t . . . dating?”

Shikadai opened his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“What are _you_ talking about?” Inojin scrambled to his feet, cheeks flushing pink. “We’re not dating. We don’t go on dates!”

“We go on dates all the time,” Shikadai sounded exasperated.

“Uh, no, we don’t,” Inojin pointed out. “Where did you get that idea?”

“We go out for dinner, we hang at your house and play games, we have lunch together every Saturday –“

“Those were _dates_?” Inojin shrieked, looking mortified. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I thought you knew!” Shikadai shouted back hotly, sitting up straight.

“How am I supposed to _know_ when you don’t _tell_ me?” Inojin rolled his eyes. “I can’t read your mind, you know!”

Shikadai stared at him. “Yes, you _can_.”

Inojin blinked, pausing for a moment as he tried to figure out how to rebuff that. “Okay, you’ve got me there. But you still never told me that we were _dating?_ How long has this been going on?”

“Six months,” Shikadai muttered, posture slouching down once more, suddenly looking at the ground and looking unusually sheepish.

“ _Six months_?” Inojin echoed in utter disbelief.

Chocho was fascinated by the turn this discussion had taken. It was like her own private drama show. She swept her gaze between the two boys, chewing slowly so as not to drown out any details of the conversation.

“You’ve been dating me behind my back for _six months_?”

“I thought you knew!” Shikadai defended again.

“You never once mentioned the words ‘we are dating’ or ‘please be my boyfriend’.” Inojin huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You must be a pretty sucky boyfriend if I didn’t even know about it.”

“What do you want me to do?” Shikadai challenged. “Want me to yell from rooftops and announce to everyone that we’re dating? Show up at your house with flowers once a week, maybe bake you heart shaped cookies?”

“Actually, yes, that sounds lovely,” Inojin sniffed, tossing his hair slightly. “Why don’t you do that?”

“Please do that,” Chocho put in with a grin. “And please make sure there are witnesses when you do.”

Shikadai scowled. “Why are you so difficult?”

“Me?” Inojin echoed in disbelief. “You’re the one who has trouble expressing emotion. When did you decide we were dating?”

“After we kissed.”

“ _We’ve never kissed!_ ” Inojin screamed, taking another step back. “When did this happen?”

“At the . . . at Boruto’s party . . .” Shikadai’s confidence seemed to shrivel up suddenly.

“That wasn’t a-“ Inojin cut himself off, cheeks flushing pink. “That was an _accident_!”

“How do you accidentally kiss someone?” Chocho wondered.

Shikadai sat up straighter. “You were leaning on me, and staring at me, and hugging my arm-“

“I was cold!”

“You basically climbed inside my jacket, and you were kissing my neck-“

“I was leaning against you! I wasn’t – I didn’t – I was just getting comfortable -“

“And then Sarada and Chocho were talking about dating boys, and you looked at me, and I turned my head down to look at you – because you keep sending all these signals-“

“ _What signals?_ ”

“- And our lips brushed together and you didn’t say anything, you just nuzzled me again and I figured since we were all talking about dating anyway that was, like, us . . . agreeing?” Shikadai trailed off uncertainly.

“What signals?” Inojin demanded again, and Chocho opened a second packet of chips, enthralled.

“You lean against me all the time, you’re always smiling at me, you hug me way longer than you hug our other friends, you give me flowers, and don’t think I don’t know how many drawings you’ve done of me.” Shikadai crossed his arms over his chest, looking defiantly at Inojin, confident once more with his evidence.

Inojin backed up a step.

Shikadai’s brows furrowed together in worry. “Um . . . do you not want us to be dating?”

Inojin’s face flared red. “I didn’t say that!”

“Then why are you yelling at me?”

“Because you never told me I was dating you! Who does that?”

That, Chocho thought, was a fair enough question. “Yeah, Shikadai, how do you date someone for six months and manage to keep it a secret?”

“I wasn’t – I didn’t – he –“ Shikadai cut himself off, scrubbing a hand over his eyes. “Oh my god, Inojin, just calm down for a second.”

“Me?” Inojin said indignantly. “I just found out I’m in a relationship; I’m not going to be calm about it!”

“Why not?” Chocho asked. “Seems like you’ve skipped all that awkward ‘maybe, will we, won’t we’ stuff. Seems like a great start to me.”

“Look, if you don’t want to, just tell me, and we can forget all about it,” Shikadai said wearily, dropping his hands to his sides again and slumping against the tree.

Inojin drew himself up, looking down his nose at Shikadai. He took a moment to think, then sniffed. “Ask me properly.”

“What?” Shikadai blinked.

“Ask me properly, and I’ll say yes.” Inojin cocked an eyebrow. “And I want everyone to know.”

“Everyone?” Shikadai hesitated. “Who is everyone?”

“All our friends. I want you to tell them all next time we’re together.”

“Sarada wanted us all to get together next weekend,” Chocho added helpfully, ignoring the withering glance Shikadai sent her. “I’ll let her know we definitely have to organize it.”

Shikadai closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. “What a drag. Okay, fine,” he opened his eyes again and looked at Inojin. “Wanna date?”

“Ask better than that.” Inojin jerked his head away.

“You got your mom’s flare for the dramatic, you know,” Shikadai grumbled. But he cleared his throat, rolled his eyes, and muttered, “Inojin –“

“Would you get up?” Chocho asked. “It makes a much more romantic scene than you slouched in the grass.”

“This has nothing to do with you,” Shikadai snapped. He groaned loudly, but got to his feet anyway, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Hands out your pockets,” Chocho instructed. “Try to look invested.”

“Shut up,” he sighed.

Inojin side eyed him. “I’m waiting, Shikadai.”

“You’re a colossal asshole, you know that?”

“I do. Now ask me properly.”

Shikadai rubbed the back of his neck resignedly, taking a moment to plan. Eventually, he said, voice quivering only a little bit, “Inojin, would you please be my boyfriend?”

“Hm,” Inojin hummed, raising his eyes to study the clouds. “I need some time to think about it . . .”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Shikadai snapped. “Give me a damn answer.”

“Keep him in suspense,” Chocho put in. She was out of chips again, and her private romance drama was getting better and better.

Inojin looked at Shikadai, meeting his eyes intently. “Will you let me hold your hand in public?”

Shikadai winced. “Maybe.”

“Will you take me on romantic dinner dates?”

“I guess.”

“Don’t sound too excited,” Chocho called, grinning at the death glare Shikadai sent her.

“Will you call me your boyfriend in front of people?” Inojin continued.

“Fine,” Shikadai sounded exasperated. “That all?”

“I’m sure I’ll think of more.” Inojin smiled sweetly. “Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend.”

“Finally,” Shikadai muttered. “This was an unnecessary exercise.”

He was about to complain further, when Inojin seized him by the jacket and hauled him forward, crashing their lips together. At least there was no mistaking it this time – this was definitely a kiss. A very deliberate one.

Shikadai waited until Inojin pulled away before cocking his head to one side. “What was that for?”

“You owe me six months of kisses,” Inojin said, as though that were a normal response.

“I’ve bought you lunch every Saturday for the last six months,” Shikadai pointed out. “I don’t owe you shit.”

Chocho shook her head. “You’re terrible at being romantic.”

“Why are you still here?” Shikadai asked, annoyed.

“Because this is better than any romcom I’ve ever seen,” she grinned. “I’ve had a great time. I wish I had filmed it.”

“I wish you’d leave us alone,” Shikadai grumbled. He looked at Inojin, though, and his expression softened. With the afternoon fading into evening, Inojin was haloed in gold, blue eyes dark with shadows, and smiling gently.

“How many Saturdays have there been in the last six months?” Inojin asked, voice soft, cheeks flushing faintly pink.

“Twenty-nine,” Shikadai replied without hesitation.

“How did you work that out so quicky?” Chocho asked, but she was ignored, as Inojin just linked his hands together behind Shikadai’s neck, and gazed searchingly at the taller boy.

“Twenty-eight thank you kisses to go, then,” Inojin reasoned.

Shikadai nodded slowly. “I’ll keep count.”

“You two,” Chocho said, “Are _adorable_.”

It was a week later that Sarada managed to gather everyone together, just to hang out and catch up. Between busy mission schedules, and various additional jobs, it was difficult to get more than five or six of their former classmates in one place at a time.

Inojin, at least, was pleased with the number of people gathered, and he had spent the entire time so far making obvious facial expressions at Shikadai. Seeing as Inojin was as subtle as a brick to the face, Shikadai sighed heavily, and called everyone to attention.

“So, I’ve got something to tell everyone,” he started, voice losing volume the more he spoke. Why did he have to do this? Why couldn’t Inojin do it? Because, a little voice in his head provided, Inojin was a jerk who lived for the humiliation of others, and Shikadai loved that about him.

“Inojin and I are dating,” Shikadai mumbled.

“Why are you telling us that?” Boruto asked, looking puzzled.

Shikadai blinked. “What?”

“I mean, why now?” Boruto shrugged. “You guys have been dating for eight months.”

“No, we haven’t,” Shikadai frowned. “It’s been six months.”

“I only learned about it last week,” Inojin put in, smiling sunnily at Shikadai.

“It’s been eight months,” Boruto said. “You know, since that mission in the forest?”

“No?” Shikadai shook his head uncertainly.

“Wait,” Sarada frowned. “I thought you guys starting dating in the Academy.”

“No, we didn’t,” Shikadai frowned.

“Uh, yes, you did,” Sarada’s tone implied the boys were idiots, and Shikadai was starting to agree with her. “The field trip to Kiri. You guys were totally a couple after that.”

“I feel like I should have been informed,” Inojin said idly.

Shikadai rolled his eyes. “We weren’t dating in the Academy-“

“Wait, you _weren’t_?” Wasabi asked, eyes widening. “I thought you were.”

“Everyone thought you were,” Iwabe put in. “I mean . . . it was kinda obvious.”

Inojin raised an eyebrow. “Why was I the last person to know I was in a relationship?”

“We’ve been dating for six months!” Shikadai repeated firmly.

“You’ve been dating _me_ for six months,” Inojin corrected. “I’ve been dating _you_ for a week.”

“Which length of time do you use for an anniversary?” Iwabe asked. “Seems complicated.”

“You could take an average,” Boruto suggested.

“Wait, would we calculate the average using all the numbers?” Sarada asked. “The week, six months, eight months, and sometime in the Academy?”

“Okay, everyone just butt out,” Shikadai growled. “You are all such a drag.”

“Calm down,” Inojin said casually. “It doesn’t matter what they think.” He took a moment to consider. “Although, this might be a sign that we need to communicate better. I mean, I didn’t even know I was dating you . . .”

“Good thing no one else asked you out,” Boruto grinned. “Shikadai would have been jealous.”

“No one would have asked him out,” Sarada rolled her eyes. “Everyone already knew they were dating.”

“I didn’t know,” Inojin said instantly.

Shikadai slumped in his seat and heaved a sigh. Apparently Inojin was not letting go of that any time soon. It seemed a lot more of a drag now that Inojin knew they were dating. Things were easier when he hadn’t been aware of it.

“Did you know Shikadai and Inojin are dating?” Shikamaru asked Ino.

Ino blinked. “Did . . . did you not know?”

Shikamaru stared at her. “. . . When did they start dating?”

Ino raised an eyebrow. “Shikamaru, they’ve been dating for _years_.”


End file.
